Where cozy means tiny and charming means needs work.
The total acquisition cost of a multifamily property divided by the number of rental units, providing a quick metric for comparing deals. It's how apartment investors reduce complex investments to a single number they can text each other.
One one-hundredth of a percentage point, used to describe interest rate changes and fees without dealing with decimals. It's how mortgage professionals make 0.25% sound more important by calling it 25 basis points.
In construction and real estate, the detailed process of measuring and quantifying all materials needed for a project from blueprints, basically turning drawings into shopping lists. Also known as "quantity takeoff," it's the unglamorous math that prevents contractors from discovering mid-project that they're three truckloads of concrete short. Get it wrong, and someone's explaining cost overruns to very angry people.
The noble art of physically visiting comparable properties to verify that online photos haven't been taken with a fisheye lens from the ceiling. It's due diligence for agents who don't trust Zillow's measurements or the laws of physics.
A contract binding a buyer to an agent for a specific period, ensuring the agent gets paid even if the buyer tries to ghost them after months of work. It's basically a pre-nup for the house-hunting relationship.
A property built on speculation without a specific buyer in mind, using builder-grade everything in beige or gray. The housing equivalent of business casual—safe, boring, and designed to offend absolutely nobody.
A seller's request for all interested buyers to submit their absolute top offer by a deadline, usually because multiple lowballers are circling. It's the real estate version of 'final answer' from Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.
Someone who purchases property on behalf of another party who can't or won't reveal their identity, ranging from perfectly legal privacy plays to outright mortgage fraud. The real estate equivalent of a burner phone.
The legal sleight of hand where a buyer transfers their purchase contract to another buyer before closing, often used by wholesalers who never intended to own the property. It's contract flipping without the renovation show.
The specific property being appraised, analyzed, or discussed, as opposed to all those comparison properties. It's like referring to the guest of honor at a party—everyone else is just there for context.
When a seller accepts a higher offer after already agreeing to sell to someone else, legal in some markets and utterly infuriating everywhere. It's the real estate version of being left at the altar, except the bride married someone richer.
Industry slang for properties with minor cosmetic issues that scare away typical buyers but are catnip to investors and DIYers. Think ugly carpet and dated wallpaper, not structural disasters—though agents sometimes blur that line.
The escape hatch in every smart buyer's offer—a contingency allowing them to back out or renegotiate if the inspection reveals the house is held together by hope and termites. It's the 'just kidding' clause of real estate.
The art of secretly buying adjacent properties to combine into one larger, more valuable parcel—like playing real estate Tetris with someone else's neighborhood. It's why some buyers use LLCs to hide their acquisition strategy.
The predicted housing market flood as millions of boomers simultaneously try to sell their family homes and downsize, potentially tanking prices. It's demographic destiny meets real estate economics, and millennials are waiting with popcorn.
The painful difference between what a buyer offered and what the property actually appraised for, requiring either price renegotiation or the buyer coughing up extra cash. It's the financial buzzkill of hot markets where emotions outbid mathematics.
A lawsuit to establish clear ownership when a property's title is messier than a reality TV custody battle. It's how you legally tell all the random people with claims on your property to take a hike.
A buyer's escape hatch that lets them bail if a property doesn't appraise for the purchase price. The adult version of "I want my money back."
Real estate euphemism for a building that's either foreclosed, about to be foreclosed, or looks like it should be condemned. The fixer-upper's troubled cousin who really needs an intervention.
A property allegedly so perfect you could move in immediately with nothing but your keys and belongings. Spoiler: there's always something.
See earnest money, but longer and more official-sounding. Because real estate professionals get paid by the syllable.
A middleman who shops your loan application to multiple lenders, theoretically saving you time and getting better rates. Sometimes actually does this.
A formal eviction warning telling tenants to pay up, shape up, or get out. The landlord-tenant relationship's breakup letter, now with legal consequences.
A three-party alternative to a mortgage where a trustee holds the property title until the loan is paid. Like a mortgage, but with an extra person who can foreclose faster.